Absence of Fear
by Amber's Angel
Summary: Amber is confused about her friendship with Bray. Season 1, Amber/Bray. (Work in Progress)
1. Part 1

Absence of Fear  
by Amber's Angel  
  
~ * ~  
  
"Do you want anything, or are you just bored? We're trying to work here-" Jack threw his hands down in despair at Patsy and Chloe, accidentally scattering the things he had been holding.  
"No, Amber said we-" Patsy started but was cut off by Jack again.  
"Are you meant to be cleaning or cooking or something? If you- "   
"Alright, alright, we're going, and good day to you too!" Chloe called Bob over to her and they walked out the door.  
"Whoa, what's up with-"  
"Patsy, Chloe, I thought I told you to stay in the café." Amber walked up to them and placed her hands on her hips. "I can see you did what you were told as usual."  
"Sorry Amber, we just-"  
"Don't try to make excuses for yourselves, just go back to the café and I'll forgive you this time."  
  
After lunch the girls descended on Amber while she was still doing the washing up.  
"Where are we going?" Patsy looked up at her, eyes hopeful.  
"And when?" Chloe supplied, picking up a dishcloth and attempting to dry the plates at record speed. Amber smiled at their enthusiasm.  
"Slow down girls, we're not going for at least an hour yet." She felt bad when she saw their faces fall. "Let your lunch go down first; I'm still trying to think where to go."  
Bray wandered in and sat down at one of the tables.  
"Why, who's going where?" He asked.  
"We are." Said Patsy.  
"Amber said she would take us out somewhere after lunch." Chloe added.  
"Wait, isn't that a bit dangerous?" He asked Amber, who just flicked him in the face with water as a reply.  
"Well it won't be if we go somewhere safe..." She trailed off.  
"Amber, there is nowhere that's completely safe in this world." He sank back into the chair.  
"The countryside is pretty safe-"  
"But getting there isn't."  
"What about the beach?" Amber asked and Bray just shrugged.  
"Fine, you win. The beach it is." He finally replied.  
"Are you coming?" Patsy asked hopefully, echoing the thought on Amber's mind.  
"If you want me to - unless Miss Stubborn here has any objections." Amber gave him a playful shove in the ribs. "What was that for?!"  
"You know damn well."  
  
"Hey." Amber looked up to see Zandra standing at the entrance to her room.  
"Zan, come in." The two girls walked over to the bed and sat down. "I could use your help." She added as an afterthought.  
"With what exactly?" Zandra raised her eyebrows.  
"Don't look at me like that!" Amber threw a pillow at her but missed. "I can't decide what to wear at the beach."  
"You mean you don't know which bikini will show off your figure best to the oh-so-gorgeous Bray?"  
"Bray and I are just great friends, we have been almost since the mallrats formed."  
"Yeah, right." Zandra said sarcastically.  
"Girls can have boys as friends, Zan-"  
"Not when they're crazy about them."  
"I am not!"  
"And I'm not stupid, Amber. I've seen the way you look at him - and for that matter the way he looks at you." Zandra held up her hand to silence Amber's protests. "I don't blame you for liking him, and I'm not giving you a hard time. But I really think you should talk to him about it, tell him how you feel."  
"I know he cares about me as a friend, but I don't want to loose that, it means a lot to me."  
"But what if it makes your friendship stronger?" Zan asked Amber who didn't reply for a while.  
"That's not gonna happen."  
"You really love him don't you?" Zandra said softly. Amber sighed.  
"So, back to the clothing situation - what do you think?" Zandra respected Amber's change of subject, and thought for a moment.  
"The blue bikini; and have you got a sarong?" She decided.  
"Yeah." Amber held up a long blue and white floaty sarong.  
"Great. It'll show off your hips nicely." Zan smiled and Amber stuffed the sarong into her bag along with a few other things and swung the bag over her shoulder. 


	2. Part 2

Amber sat down on the warm sand; picking it up and letting it run through her hands. It had been ages since she had last been to the beach…it must have been about a year before her parents had died. Sighing, she leant back so she was resting on her elbows and waited for the others to finish getting changed and join her. A moment later she saw Patsy run past her, towards the sea.  
"Hey, wait for me!" Chloe shot past after her friend and Amber couldn't help but smile at their exuberance.   
  
She heard Bray walk up beside her, and when she looked up she saw he had a puzzled look on his face.  
"Those two are a right pair." She said, jerking her head in the direction of the girls. Bray smiled.  
"Do you want to go for a walk?" He asked hesitantly, sighing inwardly with relief when Amber nodded, and pulled herself up using his outstretched hand, letting the contact last a bit longer than it needed to.  
  
Bray watched as Amber walked over to the water's edge to tell the girls where they were going, letting his eyes travel her body. Maybe going on a walk wasn't such a good idea; however much he may want to believe it, there was no way he could tell Amber how he felt about her, not when she didn't have the same type of feelings for him.  
  
They walked along in silence for a while just enjoying each other's company, wrapped up in their own thoughts.  
"What are you thinking about?" Bray broke the weird pause that had formed; usually the two of them could just chat for hours and hours about nothing in particular. They walked over to a ledge and looked down at the clear water a few meters below.  
"Oh, nothing…" Amber was caught off guard - she was thinking about her conversation with Zandra earlier, but couldn't really find the courage to tell him yet. She realised she had two choices - either to tell him the truth about what she had been thinking about, tell him how she felt about him and getting embarrassed - or think of a cover story.  
  
However tempting it was just to reach over and kiss him, she decided to go take the easier option - the cover story. Well, at least there was some truth in this one.  
"I was just thinking about the others back at the mall-"  
"Amber," he turned to face her. "I thought I told you to relax for today and have some fun for a change."  
"Is that a threat?" she said coyly.   
"Might be…" Bray suppressed a grin. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the edge of the ledge ready to throw her in.  
"No! Bray, let me down!" She looped her arms around his neck ready to pull him into the water with her. "Please, let me take my sarong off before you throw me in."  
To her surprise he let her down gently; then she realised how close they were standing. She still had her arms around his neck, and he had a hand resting on her waist. She looked at his hand and then into his eyes, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself. Hmmm, the cover story idea had turned out to be almost as bad as the pour-your-heart-out idea. Amber smiled wryly, and saw Bray's eyes flick down to look down at her mouth.  
No, he wasn't thinking about - No. Amber shook the thought out of her head, and instead took a step back from Bray to untie her sarong. Hanging it on the rocks, she walked over to the edge and dived in after Bray.  
  
After two water-fights, a roll in the sand, a swim, and another awkward moment they remembered they had left Patsy and Chloe alone further along the beach. After jumping off the rocks one last time, Amber walked over to Bray.  
"You know I can't remember having this much fun in ages." Amber smiled. "Thank you." She paused for a second before leaning over and kissing him gently on the cheek. Smiling at the shocked look on his face, she started walking back.  
  
Maybe she would take Zandra's advice and talk to Bray once they got back to the Mall. 


End file.
